


Show and Tell

by anyanka_eg



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-23
Updated: 2011-05-23
Packaged: 2017-10-19 17:33:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/203378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyanka_eg/pseuds/anyanka_eg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grace's imagination has some unforseen consequences for Steve and Danny</p>
            </blockquote>





	Show and Tell

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by the truly marvelous zinfic

Steve felt his brain stutter and his stride falter when he spotted the three fold out chairs in a neat line beside the IT table in the bull pen. He edged forward, switching the tray of coffees to his left hand and reaching for the gun at his waist.

“Woah! Holster that gun, cowboy,” Danny teased, emerging from his office and plucking his mocha from the tray in Steve's hand. “Someone's paranoid today. Were you frightened by a chair on one of your super secret army missions?”

“Navy! It was the frigging Navy, okay?” Steve almost shouted, because yes it was stupid to get freaked out by furniture and he knew it, but something was making his spider sense tingle. “Why the chairs?”

“It's time for show and tell, Steven. I'm going to be doing some showing and you guys are going to be doing some telling.”

“Huh?” Steve managed in response because as usual Danny's train of thought had jumped the rails and was careening down the street. He eyed the route to his office and wondered if he could get inside and bar the doors before Danny could stop him. His partner had that look in his eye, the one that said this wasn't going to end well. Or quietly.

“Don't even think about it, babe,” Danny instructed, wagging his finger at Steve before heading down the hall to bang on Kono and Chin's office doors.

Steve was pretty close to working through the depression stage of grieving for the loss of his poker face but it still freaked the shit out of him sometimes how easily Danny could read him. He sometimes wondered, usually when his brain wouldn't switch off and let him sleep, if Danny was actually psychic. The biggest problem with that theory, aside for the fact he didn't believe in supernatural mumbo-jumbo, was that the rest of the team seemed to be able to read him like an open book too. He sighed. As much as he told himself he wouldn't, he knew at some point over the weekend he'd end up practising his poker face in the bathroom mirror.

“Sit,” Danny ordered, passing him and heading towards the table. Chin and Kono joined him on the seats, taking their coffees from him and flashing him questioning looks. He shrugged in return because he was still as confused as they were.

“Now,” Danny said, turning to face them in front of the big screen and clasping his hands together. “Not to sound too cliched, but you're probably wondering why I gathered you here.”

“Danny...” Steve started.

“No Steven, this is the part of the lesson where you sit quietly and listen. This is where all of you get to sit and glory in the fact that thus far your lives have been a wonderful, happy, walk in the park compared to what is coming. This is the part where you get to wonder just how much I am going to fuck your shit up. So, as Mrs Crabbe used to say in second grade, fingers on lips.”

Steve shut his mouth with a snap, not exactly sure when he'd started gaping like a fish. He had to take a sip from his Americano, even though it was still too hot, to cover the fact that his hand had started to come up to follow Danny's instruction. He couldn't figure out if his partner was really mad or if he was playing some huge prank on them all. Danny didn't look angry. In fact he looked more chipper and relaxed than he did most mornings, but then Steve remembered him being so mad in the past that he'd kind of reached a zen state of irate calm.

“What I'm going to show you is a wonderful story that my beautiful daughter has written for her creative writing project. I'm sure you're thinking she must have written Harry Potter or Lord of the fucking Rings, if I'm so proud of it I'm making you guys read it. And I am proud, so stupidly proud I could burst with it. But that's not the reason why you're getting this chance to share the wonder of my daughter's precocious talent for storytelling. That pride is, however, the reason that I'm feeling magnanimous enough to give you all a chance to explain yourselves before I rip you a new one.”

Danny tapped the table and the screen on the wall displayed a scan of Grace's neat, childish handwriting.

 _  
**Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Kono, who lived in her palace on a tropical island. She was kind and fair and all the people loved her a lot. When she wasn't in her palace playing with her dog and cats and rabbits she liked to go to the beach because she is the best surfer in the whole ~~kingdom~~ world.**   
_

Without even looking at her, Steve knew Kono was grinning like a fool because he would be too if Grace had written a story about him. He felt a tiny stab of irrational disappointment that he wasn't the hero of the story, even though he knew eight year old girls weren't that likely to write stories about SEALs. Or cops.

“Steven, don't pout,” Danny ordered, snapping Steve's attention away from the screen. “I know you think you're the star of your own crazy-ass adventure show but in this story you're only the sidekick.”

“I wasn't...” Steve objected, because he wasn't pouting. He wasn't even jealous of Kono for being the one Grace's story had been written about. Much.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Danny chided and then put his finger to his lips. “It's still quiet time.”

If Steve had been the kind of guy who did pout, which he totally wasn't, he was pretty sure he'd have had an excuse right then. Danny was being a complete asshole and it wasn't even funny any more. So, Grace had written a story about Kono being a princess. Big fucking deal. He couldn't see what the problem was. He figured if he just stood up and walked away Danny would forgive him eventually. Before he had a chance to talk himself into it Danny changed the display on the screen.

 _  
**One day the commander of Princess Konos navy came to see her. Princess Kono knew someting was wrong because Commander Steve had his anyourisem face on.**   
_

_  
**“What is it Commander Steve”? she said.**   
_

**  
_“There are some pirates, Princess” he said. He had his bullet proof vest on and had his gun in his holstur too._   
**

_  
**“They have captured a ship with some of the people on. I think they have taken them to get a ransome from you” he said.**   
_

Chin giggled, actually giggled, and Kono let out a huge belly laugh when she read the first sentence. Even Danny was trying to keep a smile off his face which was totally unfair. Steve's feelings of pride at being the commander of the navy in Grace's story were swamped by the annoyance that Danny had obviously told his daughter about his aneurysm face. Not that he had one, that was all in Danny's stupid head.

“How does an eight year old know about aneurysms?” Steve grumbled, because who told their kid about strokes? It was a terrible thing to do.

“I have to own up to that,” Danny answered, looking slightly abashed, which made Steve feel a little bit better. “And, to get everyone into the right mood, I have something to say Steve. Steven, I am sorry I told Rachel that you had an aneurysm face in front of Grace.”

“Rachel?” Steve demanded, slamming his coffee down on the table, not caring about Chin's usual liquid-near-the-table flinch. “Why would your ex-wife need to know about a facial expression I don't actually have?”

“Babe,” Danny soothed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “I was telling her about the look on your face when Kamekona sat on your cell phone. Nothing serious, she just wanted to know about the guy because Grace wanted shave ice.”

“I did not have aneurysm face,” Steve protested, nearly shuddering at the horror he'd felt at the thought of actually touching the phone when the big man retrieved it from under his huge butt cheek.

“That's right you didn't,” Danny agreed jovially, as though Steve had just had some major breakthrough. “You had your 'oh my god, butt-cooties' face. Which, by the way, I am surprised that you have, being a big bad SEAL and all.”

“Butt-cooties?” Kono sounded like she couldn't decide if she was horrified, amused or intrigued. Steve's heart sank. It wasn't that he was embarrassed by how he'd 'lost' that phone, it was just he really didn't feel the need to share with everybody.

“He didn't tell you?” Danny asked, his gleeful smirk letting Steve know everything he needed to about how much joy his partner was going to get from telling the story. It was his own fault because Danny only got like this when he thought Steve wanted to hide something. It was as though he thought it was his duty as Steve's partner to drag whatever it was out into the open. Steve knew he should have just told everyone at the time, but he'd tried to block the full horror from his mind. He wasn't sure telling Kono and Chin now was really going to take the wind out of Danny's sails, but it was worth a try.

“There's nothing to tell. I left my phone on the table and Kamekona, I assume to punish me for not employing every single member of his family to fix up my house, decided to grab it and sit on it. He'd had it under his butt for like ever by the time Danny came over and I'm sorry but I just didn't feel like putting it anywhere near my ear again.”

“I hear you, brah” Chin agreed with a shudder, proving to Steve he wasn't completely weird to not want the phone back. “That's just...wrong.”

“Butt-cooties,” Kono sing-songed happily, grinning like she thought he and Chin were the cutest and funniest people she'd ever met.

“Jesus Christ,” Danny said, shaking his head in fond despair at his team mates. “You two are going to be in so much trouble when you have kids if you can't touch a phone someone only _sat_ on.”

The whole team stared at Danny in horror, even Kono, although she was probably just imagining the disaster her two team mates would make of raising kids. Steve had all kinds of appalling child related mishaps running through his mind, each one more horrifying than the last. He knew from the look of smug competence on Danny's face that his partner had probably dealt smoothly with things so disgusting that Steve couldn't even imagine them.

“Okay, we seem to have gotten off topic,” Danny said thoughtfully, as though he'd just remembered they were there so he could rant at them, not just shoot the shit. “Let's get back to Grace's story before Steve gets virtual cooties just thinking about butts.”

Before Steve could even react to Danny's insult the other man had tapped the table again and the screen changed.

 _  
**“We have to rescue the people” Princess Kono said. She didn't like the bad pirates from now adays. The pirates like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean were better and they fought monsters and saved people.**   
_

_  
**“We need to get Danny the chief of police and the Chin the head of the Kapu to help us.” Princess Kono said.**   
_

_  
**“They will know what to do.” she said.**   
_

“I'm sure you've guessed that that, right there, is one of the parts of this story I have serious questions about,” Danny pointed out, the little smile on his face doing nothing to hide the the fact that he was back to being pissed at them. “Not the chief of police part, because I am delighted that my daughter thinks I'm chief of police material. No, what I want to know is how the hell did my sweet, innocent daughter ever find out about the Kapu?”

“Ah,” Chin admitted, looking really, really guilty. “That might have been me.”

“It might have been you? Explain to me exactly how any conversation you were having with an eight year old girl strayed to that bunch of reprobates?”

Chin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Steve would normally have been delighted to see his super cool, unflappable colleague actually squirming on the end of one of Danny's questions, but he knew he was going to be wiggling like a worm on the hook later. He'd already run through everything he could remember talking to Grace about since he'd met her and it wasn't looking good.

“She asked me about them, brah” Chin explained, and he sounded like he knew exactly how much of a crappy excuse that was. “I think Kamekona must have mentioned them.”

“And what exactly did you tell her about them?” Danny asked, giving Chin the stink eye.

“Just that they were a native Hawaiian group who helps protect the islands.”

Danny glared at Chin with all the inherent suspicion of a big city cop who's heard every excuse in the book before and didn't believe them the first time around. Steve sometimes envied him that. He'd seen all kinds of shit in the Navy, both as a SEAL and in Intelligence, but he knew that next to Danny he was like some naive kid when it came to real police work. He could read people just fine, but his interrogations had all been about the big stuff, terrorism, gun running, piracy. Danny had dealt with everything from homicide down to truanting kids, and that made him tough to bullshit.

“Okay,” Danny said finally, obviously believing what Chin told him. “Although I'm still sketchy on why you're their boss in this story.”

“I told her they like motorbikes,” Chin admitted, before realizing he'd fallen into the kind of trap he'd probably set for suspects hundreds of times himself. “I swear that's it.”

“It better be.” Danny tapped the table again and moved on to the next part of the story. Chin blew out a breath and relaxed a little now the focus was off him.

 _  
**Chief Danny and Kapu Chin arrived at the palace quickly because they had a fast car and a fast motorbike. Kono thought men were funny when they compansated with fast cars.**   
_

“So, leaving aside that Kapu Chin sounds like a fucking monkey, I hope to God, Officer Kalakaua, that you did not explain what men were compensating for or, so help me, I will not responsible for my actions.”

“I swear I did not have that conversation with Grace,” Kono insisted, flushed red but looking earnest and kind of hurt Danny would think she had. “I haven't even thought that anywhere near Grace.”

Danny gave her a similar look he'd given Chin but seemed to believe her much more quickly. “I did think you weren't that stupid. I guess we can probably blame Rachel's vapid country club friends for that one. Which is another reason to try to keep my little girl out of that place.”

Steve had kind of agreed with Danny about the place, even though he'd still argued with him, when he had been ranting about Grace having tennis lessons. If that was the sort of thing they were saying around other people's kids he was right there with his partner in hating the place. It was a pity that the Governor was a member or he'd think about instigating some kind of investigation into the place because he was pretty sure if he shook that tree all kinds of illegal things might fall out. He glanced at Danny, who was looking right at him, and Steve realized what he was thinking must be all over his face because his partner flashed him the briefest of grateful smiles. Maybe he should shake the tree anyway.

Before he could say anything though Danny turned away and brought up the next snippet of story on the screen.

 _  
**“We have to save the hostages” Princess Kono told her men.**   
_

_  
**“Yes”, Cheif Danny said. There are children on the boat and I hate it when people hurt kids.”**   
_

_  
**There was a phone ringing and it was in Chin's pocket.**   
_

_  
**“Some of the Kapu have taken their boats out to the ship and can see the hostages are okay” Kapu Chin said when he finished his phone call.**   
_

_  
**“I have a team of Navy SEALs waiting for your order to breech. I have trained them for this and we have some perkushon grenades that we can use to frighten the pirates” Commander Steve said.**   
_

Steve knew what was coming but it still didn't make it any easier when Danny turned to him, all of the good humor of a few seconds ago gone. “I don't even have to ask who it was who told her about percussion grenades, do I?”

“She'd seen them on TV and wanted to know what they were,” Steve explained, hoping Danny didn't push too hard because he had no good way to explain why she knew the term breach. “I told her that we used them to frighten bad guys so we could get inside buildings without getting hurt ourselves or having to hurt the suspects.”

“We?” Danny inquired, his tone sounding so calm and pleasant that it took a moment for Steve to realize what he'd done.

“SEALs,” Steve insisted, feeling really stupid for not thinking about his answer before he'd spoken. “I never said you used them or that I used them now.”

Danny raised an eyebrow and tapped the table.

 _  
**“I like them,” Cheif Danny said. “It means that we can all stay safe and I can go home to my daughter in one piece.”**   
_

Jesus! It was like Danny had known exactly what he was going to say and had chopped up the story specifically to catch him out. Steve wondered why the other man didn't just come out and tell him he'd fucked up? “What did you want me to tell her? That I didn't know what they were? Wouldn't you rather she knew that there was something we use that means we get to be safer when we do our jobs? She's not stupid, Danny.”

“I know she's not stupid,” his partner said, looking at Steve like he was the crazy one in the room. “But you have to be careful what you say to kids.”

“I was,” Steve insisted, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “And I even turned on the parental locks on the cable TV at my place so I know she didn't see them on my watch either.”

Steve stared down at the floor, refusing to meet his partner's disapproving eye. He wasn't going to argue with Danny about this because he'd obviously already made up his mind that Steve had screwed up and nothing he could say would change that. Danny was probably right, so what was the point in carrying on this stupid exercise?

He knew he was being childish and sulking but it wasn't his fault he had no clue when it came to kids. He'd told Danny that. Well, Danny had told him and he hadn't disagreed, and then his partner had still brought Grace to his house. God, what if Danny never brought her over again? What if Danny stopped coming over completely?

“Awww,” he heard Kono say and had to look up. Danny had changed the display on the screen again.

 **  
_Princess Kono and Commander Steve, Cheif Danny And Chin-Ho got on their fast boat and speeded out to the ship that was highjacked by the pirates. When they got there they met the SEALs and got ready to fight the pirates._   
**

_  
**“We'll go first,” Commander Steve said. He meant his SEALs and not the others because he always wanted to rush in and save everyone.**   
_

**  
_“I don't want you going in there on your own because you're crazy and might get hurt,” said Cheif Danny because he was always worried about Commander Steve. He rushed into danger without thinking about the people who worried about him._   
**

He looked at Danny who now seemed to be the one finding the floor super interesting. Steve waited for his partner to tell him off for being a SEAL or whatever was wrong with this bit of the story. He couldn't see what the problem was with this part of the story but then he was struggling to see what he'd done wrong about the previous section too.

Finally Danny looked right at him. “You see what I mean about being careful what you say to kids?”

“I didn't...”

“I know, Steve,” Danny interrupted gently, but he sounded like he was exasperated with Steve's stupidity, which was totally unfair because the man was making no sense. “That was aimed at myself. I shouldn't be telling Grace things about work that could be misinterpreted if she repeats them.”

“Misinterpreted?”

“You want all the teachers at Grace's school, and all the people they feel the need to tell, to know that I think you're crazy and worry about you getting hurt all the time?” Danny asked, sounding like he was speaking to a slow child.

“It's not like it's not true,” Steve objected, wondering why Danny was rolling his eyes and Kono was trying not to laugh.

“Are you being stupid on purpose? There are some things that people outside of this room don't need to be wondering about, Steven, especially when they're not true. Things that might give the wrong impression to individuals who like to speculate about our working relationship.” Danny tapped at the table and the screen changed.

 _  
**“It's okay Danny. You can come with me too because you always keep me safe,” Commander Steve said. He smiled at Cheif Danny like he was the one who made the sun shine.**   
_

Steve read it and blinked a couple of times. Okay, he could see that maybe he didn't want all of Grace's teachers to know all his innermost thoughts, which somehow the little girl had managed to put right out there for all to see. Jesus, he really must have no poker face left at all. He just hoped Danny would believe him that it was nothing more than fiction on Grace's part.

“You want to claim the sun shining boo-boo, Kono?” Danny suggested, turning to look at the rookie.

“It was Rachel,” Kono said with a triumphant grin. “She was collecting Grace from her surf lesson and you and Steve were getting her bag from your car. You were ranting about something - what you know you rant? - and Steve was smiling at you like you were the most amazing thing...”

Kono stopped speaking and her cheeks flamed. She looked at Steve, panic on her face, and then back at Danny. “Sorry. You're just so...”

Steve thought he was probably looking a bit panicked himself. Jesus, he'd been an idiot. He'd let himself get way too comfortable as a civilian and now he was going to have to do some serious work on getting some discipline back in his life. There was no way he could afford to be that obvious about his feelings for Danny. He was not going to screw up their friendship.

“Stop digging, cuz,” Chin interrupted, standing up and tapping the table to move on to the next section of story before anyone said anything else.

 _  
**“I've got my rifle” Princess Kono said. She liked her rifle a lot because she could shoot bad guys from a long way away.**   
_

”Can we go back to the previous bit where I was embarrassing myself?” Kono asked looking really sheepish.

Steve thought she probably should feel a bit guilty because even he hadn't managed to end up talking about his favorite gun with Grace. He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before blowing it out quietly, hoping he he could get himself together while the attention was all on Kono.

“I don't think so,” Danny said with a mocking laugh. “Come on, I'm sure there's a good explanation for why you ended up chatting about sniper rifles with my child.”

“She overheard Chin and me talking about...things...and then asked about guns.”

“Things? What things?” Danny fixed her with his gimlet stare, his hands on his hips before he suddenly deflated. “You know what, don't tell me. It's better if I don't know. I guess it explains the next bit though.”

 _  
**“And I've got my shot gun,” Kapu Chin said. He liked his shot gun because it really packed a punch.**   
_

Steve began to feel a whole lot better about the percussion grenades thing because at least he hadn't brought them up in the first place or let her eavesdrop on his conversations. Maybe he wasn't the only one who didn't have the first clue about kids. He just wished Danny had let his faux pas go as easily as he seemed to be doing with Chin and Kono's.

“Oh god,” Chin muttered, determinedly looking at his feet.

“He's not going to help you here,” Danny said, his hands cutting through the air in frustration. “He thinks you fucked up just like I do. He's probably creating a new level of hell for people who talk about guns to other people's eight year old daughters.”

“I'm sorry, brah,” Chin said, looking so upset Steve thought he might have to go over and hug him. “Really sorry.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Kono earnestly.

“I'm not sure that's going to cover it,” Danny sighed, tapping the table.

 _  
**“Okay, you can all come with the SEALs” Steve said. His team were the best in the whole world.**   
_

_  
**Commander Steve and everybody else snuck up to the wheelhouse of the ship and threw their perkushon grenades inside. There was a big bang and then all the pirates were surprised.**   
_

_  
**“Go go go” Commander Steve shouted and everyone rushed into the ship with their guns.**   
_

_  
**“On the floor. Get on the floor,” Princess Kono shouted.**   
_

_  
**All of the pirates lay down when they saw the Princess and her men with their guns. One of them didn't and he tried to escape. Princess Kono chased after him and caught him. He tried to fight but she kicked him in the head with a round house kick and he fell on the floor.**   
_

No one spoke. Steve was pretty sure that all of them could see something in that take down that they'd told Grace about. He was going to have to own up to playing with his old G.I. Joe figures with her, which was embarrassing, and showing her how his squad would clear a room, which promised a painful death at Danny's hands.

Danny had a scowl that spoke of long held grudges and mysterious work place accidents. “Nothing to say? Seriously? You've got nothing?”

“What do you want us to say?” Chin asked, finally speaking up because he was so much braver than Steve would ever be. “We know we screwed up.”

Danny's scowl deepened, his face got redder and Steve thought he might actually stroke out if he didn't relax pretty soon. He looked at all of them, met each of their eyes, and Steve hoped when his turn came that he'd managed to get every bit of regret out there on his face.

Maybe having no poker face any more was a good thing because Danny took a breath, held it, and then blew it out. The scowl mostly disappeared from his face and he just looked tired and a little sad. “I know you didn't mean any harm, guys, but you have to be more careful what you talk to her about. She's turning into Nancy Drew or Nellie Bly or something.”

“Who's Nellie Bly?” Steve asked. He knew exactly who she was but he also knew just how to set Danny off on a therapeutic rant. He was pretty sure Danny knew he knew, if the flash of gratitude that passed across his face was anything to go by.

“Who's Nellie Bly? Do you even hear yourself? How can you not know who she is? Did you actually go to school, or do they not teach you about haoles in this god forsaken place? Nellie Bly was an intrepid female journalist who circumnavigated the globe, unchaperoned I might add, in 1889 in seventy-two days, six hours and eleven minutes. Not only that; she was America's first female war correspondent.”

“I didn't know that,” Kono said, sounding like she'd just found a new hero to worship.

Chin rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly at his cousin. Steve wasn't sure if it was because she'd given Danny all the ammunition he needed to take more shots at Hawaii's schools or that Chin knew he'd be clearing Nellie Bly out of Kono's search history for weeks to come.

Danny opened his mouth to obviously continue his discourse about the state of Hawaii's education system then seemed to remember why they were there. “Look, just be careful in the future because Rachel's not happy about this.”

“We'll be more careful,” Steve assured him, because he was never, ever going to be the cause of Danny not being able to see Grace. He'd go back in the Navy, take himself out of the equation, before he let that happen.

“Whatever doomsday scenario you're running in your head right now won't be necessary, babe,” Danny instructed, giving him a look that said he was more than aware Steve was crazed but was willing to ignore it for the moment. “Just think about what you say in front of her and if she asks you anything more complicated than what's for lunch, tell her to ask me.”

Steve tried not to react to Danny's freaky mind reading skills and just nodded his agreement. Kono was shaking her head up and down too, leaving Chin to answer. “Sure.”

“Okay then,” Danny sighed, blowing out a breath and turning to the table to get rid of the presentation. “Back to the paperwork.”

“That's not it, is it?” Kono asked, and all three of the men turned to look at her like she was completely insane. “What? The story. That's not the ending to the story, is it?”

They all turned towards Danny and something flickered across his face that Steve thought might be fear but it was gone too quickly for him to tell. Instead Danny turned away and busied himself with the table, carefully not meeting their collective gazes.

“Oh, now I know there's more,” Kono teased, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. “You only get squirrelly when you don't want to tell us something. Which, trust me, is not often, because you're really big with the over share.”

“Hey!” Danny objected, pulling his cloak of bluster and hand waving around him. “I do not 'over share'. I just don't bottle everything up and let it fester like Mr. Stoic over there.”

“That's Lieutenant Commander Stoic,” Steve corrected him, enjoying watching Danny squirm as he avoided the question before he remembered he was supposed to getting some self discipline back.  
“Whatever. Anyway, show's over. Back to doing what the Governor pays us the not so big bucks for.”

“I want to read the end of the story,” Kono insisted, looking mulish and like she was definitely going to bug the crap out of all of them until she got to read it. “It's only fair that you let us finish it now that we've sat through the bad parts.”

“Kono,” Danny warned, and Steve knew right then that he needed to know how the story ended because his partner was definitely hiding something. “You really don't need to see it.”

“Come on,” Steve wheedled, only to feel suddenly nervous when something like terror flickered in his partner's eyes.

Danny looked at them all, obviously weighing his chances of getting out of the building alive if he didn't show them the ending. Steve was really beginning to suspect that they maybe his eagerness to see the ending had been a little hasty but the determined set of Kono's face told him she was never going to listen to him if he tried to take his partner's side. Even Chin looked like he would happily sit there, like an immovable mountain of Zen, until Danny gave in.

“Okay,” Danny sighed, turning back to the table. “But remember this is an eight year old making up a story and if any of you have a problem with it you take it up with me. You never, ever give Grace any kind of shit for it. I mean it. One of you even looks at her funny and no one will find the body.”

 _  
**“Great work ” Princess Kono said. All the pirates were tied up and the SEALs were taking them to the police. All the people on the boat were having a cup of tea and a sit down. And some shave ice.**   
_

_  
**“We caught all the bad guys and no one is hurt.” she said.**   
_

_  
**“I'm happy your safe” Cheif Danny said to Commander Steve.**   
_

_  
**“Me to” said Commander Steve. He was lonely before Danny and Grace came along but now he was happy.**   
_

_  
**“Let's go home and get your daughter so we can go swim with the dolphins.” Steve said. Cheif Danny held his hand and they kissed each other.**   
_

_  
**The End**   
_

Steve felt his face flaming. Jesus Christ. How had an eight year old girl managed to see right through him? He really needed to get his shit together because he had about two seconds to put some kind of mask back on and laugh this off as what it really was, a kid's story.

“That is so cu..,” Kono cooed, stopping when Chin cleared his throat. “Oh.”

Steve glanced at the two cousins and knew he was busted. Shit. He stood up, not looking at Danny because he couldn't bear to see the same look of startled sympathy on his face as was on Chin and Kono's. “I've got...things.”

He was out of the door of the Five-0 office before he remembered he'd walked to the coffee shop and the keys to his truck were on his desk. Fuck. He veered left and headed into the men's room, thanking all the deities he could think of that there was no one in there.

He stared at the mirror, horrified by how freaked out he looked. This shouldn't be happening to him. He'd had crushes on men he'd served with before and he'd hidden it so well that no one, certainly not the object of the crush, had known anything about it. He knew he wasn't deluding himself about his self control or his ability to live a lie because there had never been even a whisper of conduct unbecoming about him. He didn't understand how he'd somehow lost that.

“Steve!” Jesus, why did it have to be Danny that came after him? Why did anyone have to follow him at all? He didn't answer, hoping that his partner would think that he'd gone outside.

“McGarrett,” Danny shouted, pushing the door to the men's room open. “If you don't stop hiding right now I am going back inside to sign and date that transfer request in my desk.”

He watched Danny storm into the bathroom in the mirror, realizing that awkward sympathy wasn't going to be a problem. Danny was furious, his face red and his mouth tight in an obvious effort to keep himself under control. He couldn't even wrap his head round that. He'd always thought Danny was basically a nice guy, tolerant and caring under all the bluster, and yet he was going to transfer out just because he'd found out his partner might have inappropriate feelings for him.

“You can work with Kono or Chin. I'll stay away from you but the team needs you,” Steve offered, trying to sound reasonable even though he was suddenly stupidly angry with his partner. Maybe discovering the man he thought of as his best friend was homophobic would be all he needed to get over his feelings.

“Stay away from me?” Danny shouted, almost vibrating with anger. “How will that solve anything? Tell me? Just how will that fix anything?”

“Well you obviously don't want to be around me if you're thinking of transferring out,” Steve snapped, wishing all he was feeling was the righteous anger at Danny's reaction, instead of the growing hurt that threatened to take his breath away. “So for the good of the team I'd rather you worked with Chin. I'm sorry I've offended you. Trust me when I say I never intended for it to happen.”

“What?” Danny snarled, stepping closer, grabbing Steve's arm and spinning him around so they were facing each other. “What are you saying? You're sorry you're a bigot? Or are you sorry you got found out?”

“A bigot?”

“Yeah, that's right,” Danny insisted, stepping in again and jabbing Steve hard in the chest with his finger. “A fucking bigot who's so screwed up he can't handle a kid writing a fucking story that might cast some doubt on his sexuality. Jesus Christ, I thought you were better than that.”

“I'm not...shit, Danny. How could you even think that?” Steve knew he was being a little bit hypocritical asking that when he'd been thinking the very same thing about Danny, but it was a like a knife in the chest. He'd thought they were friends, that his partner respected him, but his first thought was that Steve was some kind of asshole.

“Hey, you're the one who ran out of there in a fit of heterosexual panic. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...”

“I'm bi, Danny,” Steve hissed, grabbing Danny's jabbing finger. “I'm fucking bi, okay?”

Danny blinked at him. Steve could almost see the cogs turning in his brain as he processed what he'd just been told and made it fit in his world view. The anger had gone and now his face was just screwed up in confusion. “Bi?”

“Yeah.”

“And what?” Danny asked, hurt annoyance creeping into his voice. “You thought we'd all think so badly of you you had to run out of the office and hide in the bathroom?”

“It was a shock, okay?” Steve lied, willing to let Danny think that he'd doubted the team rather than tell him the truth. “I'm so used to having to hide it, even just the suggestion of it, it was kind of automatic.”

Danny's eyes flicked over his face as if he was searching for the truth, before he blew out a breath that seemed to take all his anger with it. “Yeah, okay. I guess don't ask, don't tell sucked, huh?”

“Like the guys in the back room at the Shadow Lounge,” Steve agreed emphatically, getting a huffed laugh in return.

Danny's breath ghosted across his face and Steve suddenly realized just how close they were standing. He was even still holding Danny's fingers in his fist, almost clutching them to his chest. The embarrassment he'd felt earlier rushed back and he knew he was blushing. Christ, he thought, dropping Danny's hand like it burned him and taking a step back, bumping into the basin behind him.

“What...?” Danny started, then stopped and cocked his head a little, considering Steve. “That's not why you ran out though, is it?”

“Yes it is,” Steve insisted, wishing he could take another step back. He scrubbed his hand over his face and took a deep breath. He really needed to get a grip of this conversation, as much as he ever could with Danny, before his partner divined all his secrets.

“No it's not,” Danny said, pondering Steve like he was some puzzle to be solved or worse – a suspect to be cracked. “No, there's something else. Something that's gotten you really spooked.”

“No. It's nothing.”

“It's not just the bi thing,” Danny carried on as though Steve hadn't said anything, his finger back to pointing again. “You've got...actually, this might be a new face for you. Shifty, you look shifty. What are you hiding?”

“Jesus, Danny,” Steve said, as he tried to sidestep his partner and make a run for it out of the bathroom. “Would you leave it? I'm not trying to hide anything.”

“No, I'm on to something here,” Danny argued gleefully, grabbing Steve's arm. “So, it's not just the bi thing and I'm guessing it wasn't tying up the suspects or the hostages getting cups of tea, because even you're not that weird. So it must be the kissing? You got a problem with the idea of people thinking you want to kiss me?”

“Would you stop?” Steve hissed, looking away because he knew he couldn't to meet Danny's eyes without giving too much away. “Just...please, Danny. I can't do this.”

“What are you even talking about?” Danny demanded, suddenly angry again. “Let me get this straight. Grace wrote a story and by some coincidence managed to write you kissing a guy, which is apparently okay, but it's not okay the guy is me? Does that about sum up the insanity that you're struggling with here?”

“Jesus Christ, Danny!” Why couldn't the man leave him alone? It should be obvious to any normal human being that he really didn't want to talk about it. But Danny clearly wasn't normal, because he was still right up in Steve's space trying to make him admit to things he couldn't possibly want to hear.

“I'm sorry I don't measure up to the standards you want in a fictional boyfriend,” Danny said, angry and red faced. “A bit too haole for you?”

Steve couldn't stand it any more. He grabbed Danny by the biceps and crashed their lips together. It wasn't anything like he'd imagined when he'd dreamed of kissing Danny. He was terrified and desperate, and he could feel Danny almost vibrating with barely contained rage against him. It was sad that this miserable excuse for a kiss was going to be the only chance he ever got, especially as he was pretty sure Danny was going to punch him for it.

He pulled back, pushing Danny away from him slightly before he let go of the other man's arms. He wasn't a coward, he was going to look his partner in the eye when he took his shot. Danny didn't move though. He stood there and blinked at Steve like he was too shocked to move. Then, his eyebrows scrunched together as he found his voice. “You fucking moron.”

Steve braced himself for the hit but it didn't come. Instead Danny stepped in, wrapped a hand round the back of his neck, fisted the other in his shirt, and dragged him into another kiss. Steve froze. This wasn't what happened. He was supposed to get punched, not kissed. Danny should push him away, be appalled that his partner had a crush on him, and Steve would end up embarrassed and hurt.

But instead Danny's tongue was licking along the seam of his lips and Steve moaned as he opened his mouth, letting it in. Their tongues slid sweetly together and Steve felt lightheaded as the adrenalin left him in a rush. He wobbled, only Danny and the basin behind him held him upright. They pulled apart slowly, Danny placing a series of quick closed mouth kisses on his lips before opening his eyes and looking up at him.

“Um,” Steve managed.

“What am I going to do with you?” Danny asked fondly, the hand on the back of Steve's neck giving him a little shake. “All this because you couldn't just ask me on a date?”

“I didn't know,” Steve said, his voice cracking with something he thought was relief. Or maybe it was happiness. “I really didn't.”

“I know, babe,” Danny said smiling, and stepping back from their embrace. Steve wanted to drag him close and never let him go, but he forced himself to follow Danny's lead.

“We should...office,” Steve said, gesturing back towards the door of the bathroom. He felt giddy and loose-limbed, like he was a teenager again. He knew he was grinning, probably like a complete fool, but he didn't care. Danny had kissed him and they were going to be okay.

“Yes we should,” Danny agreed with a laugh, running his hand down Steve's arm and tangling their fingers. “Because kissing you has clearly broken your brain, even more than it was already. Do you need a lie down? I can bring you a damp cloth for your forehead. Or maybe you should ride your joyous little cloud of euphoria and explain to Chin and Kono why you ran out of the door like that.”

“Oh god,” Steve groaned, wishing he could run out to his truck and never face his team mates again.

“It's okay, babe,” Danny reassured him, putting a guiding hand on the small of his back and steering him out of the men's room. “They both already know you're a socially dysfunctional misfit.”

“Fuck you,” Steve laughed, slinging his arm around Danny's shoulders and pulling him in to a gentle headlock. He thought about ruffling his partner's hair but instead buried his face in it, kissing the top of his head.

“Get off me, you giant ape. Seriously, is this how it's going to be? This, us, this thing with the kissing, does not give you the right to manhandle me like I'm your play thing, Steven.”

For all Danny was bitching, his hands waving in apparent outrage, he wasn't struggling to get out of Steve's loose grip. Okay, so it wasn't exactly like riding off into the sunset for a fairytale happy ever after, but it was real and it was his. He wasn't sure he really deserved to feel like this, or if he even he knew how to be as happy as he was, but he was going to grab on to it with both hands and never let it go. Maybe, they could even go and collect Grace to take her to go swimming with the dolphins.

~fin~


End file.
